HOBBES AS A PHILOSOPHER OF POWER

This essay is devoted to a critical analysis of the theory of power of Thomas Hobbes, as he presented it especially in his masterpiece, Leviathan (1651). Considering new contributions to this theme (M. Weber, B. Russell, C. W. Mills, A. Goldman, S. Lukes, etc.), author strives to explicate Hobbes' ideas by means of such concepts as desire, interest, causation, as well as the right of nature and liberty. Special attention is being paid to the question of social contract and sovereign power, in which author sees a danger of a totalitarian grip on power.